If the Bears want to take one giant leap to solve a long-standing issue at safety, a pricey fix will likely be available.
The Patriots exercised their franchise tag on kicker Stephen Gostkowski before Monday's deadline, meaning free safety Devin...

South Florida is the state's most populous region, yet it has almost no political clout in the Legislature.
Republicans control both houses and the governor's mansion, so the area's heavily Democratic delegations will face a fight for relevance when...

As the clock ran out on the Department of Homeland Security’s budget Friday, managers at offices across the country scrambled to make plans for thousands of furloughs and service cuts.
Training centers for air marshals, Secret Service officers,...

Northern Trust said it plans to open a new operating center this year that will grow to 1,000 full-time jobs over the next three years — in Tempe, Ariz.
The 125-year-old financial services firm said it plans to keep its headquarters in Chicago.
Positions will range from entry level to executive jobs in such areas as accounting, operations, information technology, client services and investment management.
"The approximately 1,000 jobs will be mostly new jobs," a Northern Trust spokesman said...

The "silver tsunami" predicted for Maryland, where more than 1 million workers have no retirement savings, is one that will sweep the rest of the country, too. As a matter of fact, the Employee Benefit Research Institute says the percentage of Marylanders with little or no savings is about average for the nation.
More than a third of those within 10 years of retirement have saved less than $10,000 — a quarter have saved less than $1,000. The numbers are slightly higher for those aged 45 to 55....

WASHINGTON The possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon eliminate federal subsidies for people buying health insurance through the Affordable Care Act is the biggest story in politics and economics that no one wants to talk about. But the stakes in King v. Burwell, which the court will hear on March 4, could scarcely be higher: If the plaintiffs prevail, millions of people in 34 states who bought insurance on federal exchanges would suddenly lose the subsidies that make it affordable....

The largest and oldest sports bar chain in northern Nevada is being accused of violating federal labor laws by intentionally misclassifying cooks and kitchen managers as executives to avoid paying them overtime.
Bully's Sports Bar & Grill allegedly forced kitchen staff to work more than 60 hours a week routinely without paying overtime for at least the last three years, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Reno.
Bully's deliberately underpaid Ernesto Amador and others "in order to save...

The Miami Dolphins are facing a tough decision regarding Mike Wallace’s future with the team, but one of the possible options to address his large salary isn’t re-structuring his existing deal.
Sources tell the Sun Sentinel that Wallace has told the Dolphins he will not restructure the final three years and $32.9 million left on his contract. Wallace, who has expressed his displeasure with the Dolphins' conservative offense, would rather test the free-agent market than re-work the...

The owner of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods stores became the latest retailer to boost pay for its U.S. workers, putting pressure on other chains to do the same.
TJX Cos. said Wednesday that it will increase pay for its U.S. workers to at least $9 an hour starting in June. The announcement came a week after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it would increase starting wages for its U.S. employees to at least $9 per hour by April and by at least $10 by Feb. 2016. Home furnishings retailer IKEA and Gap clothing...